Australian sprint superstars Gout Gout and Lachie Kennedy have safely progressed to the semi-finals of the Stawell Gift after blistering runs on Saturday. Gout started the famous 120m race with a 1m handicap, but blitzed the field to win his heat in comfortable fashion at Central Park in the north-west of Victoria. WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Gout blitzes the field. The 17-year-old showed his trademark explosiveness to quickly chase down his rivals and win in a time of 12.31. The crowd went absolutely wild at the sight of the Gout in full stride. “It feels great. The track is great and the run is obviously great. Can’t wait for the semis and hopefully the finals,” he told Seven after the race. “It felt pretty much like I was running on a synthetic track,” Gout later said. “I guess it was a mental game, because I love chasing down people. So this is the type of race I love. “The 120 (metres) is literally like one of the perfect distances for me because in the 100s, obviously, I don’t get that much time to get up in my top speed.“I get that extra 20 metres here, it’s definitely great and hopefully I can run down a few more people.” Kennedy, who jumped from 0.25m, easily won his heat in similar style. He clocked a 12.23 to be third quickest among all the qualifiers, while Gout wasn’t in the top 10. “Looked like he was smiling for the last 10 or 15 metres,” the commentator said of Kennedy. “Looked like he really, really enjoyed it. He was able to shut the motor off with 15 metres to go.” Kennedy was all smiles after the heat. “I had heaps of fun,” Kennedy told Seven. “It’s a little bit daunting when the others start so much in front of you (and) you have to chase people down. “The atmosphere and the crowd here is incredible.” The two superstars will return to the iconic track on Monday for the semi-finals before the final on the same day with a $40,000 prize on offer for the champion. John Evans, who started from 9.75m, was the quickest qualifier with a 12.13. Defending champion Jack Lacey also won his heat to progress. Flying Queenslanders Gout and Kennedy have developed quite the friendly rivalry in recent months, with Kennedy taking the honours over 200m in their head-to-head clash late last month at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne. Kennedy was a close second behind Rohan Browning in the 100m last weekend at the Australian championships in Perth, with Gout saluting in the under-20 100m and the open 200m. Kennedy also won silver in the 60m at the world indoor championships in Nanjing, China in early April. The headline acts also delivered in the heats of the women’s Gift on Saturday. Paris Olympics 100m semi-finalist Bree Rizzo looked to have plenty in reserve as she won the last heat off scratch in 13.91. Fellow scratch marker and defending Gift champ Chloe Mannix-Power won her heat in 13.95.